Pick one of the 2012 Selections for Middle Readers
America is under attack : September 11, 2001 : the day the towers fell
Author: Don Brown; Illustrator: Don Brown; Publisher: Roaring Brook
A straightforward account of the September 11th tragedy, Brown’s restrained watercolors and sensitive text focuses on small stories of those who were in the Towers and the people who responded to the disaster.
The Cheshire Cheese cat : a Dickens of a tale
Author:Carmen Agra Deedy, Randall Wright; Illustrator: Barry Moser; Publisher: Peachtree Publishers
Alley-cat Skilley finds a perfect home, gets help from a friend to return an injured raven to the Tower of London and saves all the Cheshire Cheese Inn mice from the evil Pinch.
Dream something big : the story of the Watts Towers
Author: Dianna Hutts Aston; Illustrator: Publisher: Susan L.Roth; Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
The human desire to make a mark is celebrated in this fictionalized account of Simon Rodia’s process in building the Watts Towers – a singular, eccentric, artistic creation now recognized as a National Landmark.
E-mergency
Author: Tom Lichtenheld; Illustrator: Ezra Fields-Meyer; Publisher: Chronicle Books.
When the letter ‘E’ falls down the stairs and hurts her leg, the rest of the alphabet must do the best it can to limp along without its most-used letter. Puns aplenty pack every page.
Emma dilemma : big sister poems
Author: Kristine O'Connell George; Illustrator: Nancy Carpenter; Publisher: Clarion Books
Sisterhood is complicated: partly embarrassing, partly affectionate, partly competitive, partly supportive, partly confining, partly empowering. The many facets of the relationship are deftly described by George’s poems and Carpenter’s pen and ink drawings.
The Great Migration : journey to the North
Author: Eloise Greenfield; Illustrator: Jan Spivey Gilchrist; Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Muted mixed media illustrations set the tone for somber yet hopeful free verse honoring the author's family as they journeyed north from the Jim Crow South. A haunting view of a pivotal moment in U.S. history.
Junonia
Author: Kevin Henkes; Publisher: Greenwillow Books.
Alice knows just how her vacation on Sanibel Island should be: the same as the previous nine, except that this year she hopes to find a rare junonia shell. Alice's tenth birthday, however, brings unexpected changes.
Lemonade, and other poems squeezed from a single word
Author: Bob Raczka; Illustrator: Nancy Doniger; Publisher: Roaring Brook Press.
Think of a word, then compose a poem using only the letters in that word. Amusing challenges for poet and reader alike, these poem-puzzles are illustrated with similarly playful brush-paintings. Great fun for classroom or budding poets.
The mangrove tree: planting trees to feed families
Author:Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore; Illustrator: Susan L. Roth; Publisher: Lee & Low Books.
Through a “This is the House That Jack Built” formula, the story of an ecological and environmental triumph is told so that even very young children can understand the interrelationships between plants, animals and people.
Migrant
Author: Maxine Trottier; Illustrated: Isabelle Arsenault; Publisher: Groundwood Books
This unique story about a group of migrant workers – Mennonites – is told through the eyes of young Anna, who reflects upon their peripatetic life and the hardships it creates.
Night flight : Amelia Earhart crosses the Atlantic
Author: Robert Burleigh; Illustrator: Wendell Minor; Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Sit with Amelia Earhart in her red Vega as she flies across the Atlantic and startles a farmer in Northern Ireland by landing in his field.
No Ordinary Day
Author: Deborah Ellis; Publisher: Groundwood
Valli, a resourceful homeless nine-year-old, learns she has leprosy. An encounter with a kind doctor gives her the chance to heal and find a home. Illuminates harsh realities in contemporary India.
Nursery rhyme comics: 50 timeless rhymes from 50 celebrated cartoonists
Illustrator: Patrick McDonnell et al. ; Publisher: First Second
A lively compilation of 50 nursery rhymes interpreted and illustrated in diverse and distinctive styles by a different cartoonist or graphic artists. The introduction by Leonard Marcus puts it all in focus.
The third gift
Author: Linda Sue Park; Illustrator: Bagram Ibatoulline; Publisher: Clarion Books
Ibatoulline’s sumptuous, highly finished gouaches invite the reader into a distant time and landscape where a young Arab boy and his father harvest myrrh for three mysterious strangers.
Thunder birds: nature's flying predators
Author: Jim Arnosky; Illustrator: Jim Arnosky; Publisher: Sterling
Arnosky describes and illustrates the qualities of magnificent raptors. Distinctive acrylic and chalk paintings depict birds gazing at readers from their natural environments. Four large fold out pages shows some birds in actual size.
Treasury of Greek mythology: classic stories of gods, goddesses, heroes & monsters
Author: Donna Jo Napoli; Illustrator: Christina Balit; Publisher: National Geographic Society
From the chaos that spawned Gaia to the horrors of the Trojan War, this is the most comprehensive and lavishly illustrated compendium of Greek mythology since the D’Aulaires’ offering. Timeline, cast of characters, map appended.
The trouble with May Amelia
Author: Jennifer L. Holm; Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
May Amelia is always in trouble but never more than when she translates an offer from a con man for her father. A companion to My Only May Amelia, it stands sturdily on its own.
Underground
Author: Shane Evans; Illustrator: Shane Evans; Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Spare text describes a long dangerous night time journey on the Underground Railroad. The striking illustrations with their dark palette burst into light as the travelers reach freedom.
The unforgotten coat
Author: Frank Cottrell Boyce; Illustrator: Carl Hunter and Clare Heney; Publisher: Candlewick Press
Julie recalls her sixth year classmates Chingis and Nergui, two Mongolian brothers, their strange polaroid photographs, sketchy descriptions of Mongolia, and their very real fear of demons in this offbeat, haunting story.
The watcher : Jane Goodall's life with the chimps
Author: Jeanette Winter; Illustrator: Jeanette Winter; Publisher: Schwartz & Wade Books
Winter presents inquisitive and independent Goodall from girlhood to the Gombe Stream and beyond in her search to understand chimpanzees. Stylized acrylics show scientist and animals in the abundant foliage of Africa.
Wonderstruck
Author: Brian Selznick; Illustrator: Brian Selznick; {Publisher: Scholastic
Two parallel stories set 50 years apart converge in this textual and visual story of adventurous Ben and Rose as it explores topics of deafness, silence, wolves, and museums.
Won-Ton : a cat tale told in haiku
Author:Lee Wardlaw; Illustrator: Eugene Yelchin; Publisher: Henry Holt
From animal shelter cage to a loving home, Won Ton’s experience is told from his point of view in senryu, a form of Japanese poetry similar to Haiku.
Young Fredle
Author: Cynthia Voigt; Illustrator: Louise Yates; Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Exiled from his home in the pantry, Fredle, a mouse with a sweet tooth and unusual curiosity, discovers the wonders and dangers of the outside world. He learns to question the rules and returns home a changed mouse.
Zita the spacegirl
Author: Ben Hatke; Illustrator: Ben Hatke; Publisher:First Second
When a little red button crashes to earth any self-respecting graphic novel character would push it. When Joseph is whisked through an inter-dimensional portal to an alien planet, Zita follows to rescue him.
Balloons over Broadway: the true story of the puppeteer of Macy's Parade
Author: Melissa Sweet; Illustrator: Melissa Sweet; Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
This story of Tony Sarg, the artistic inventor who conceived the huge balloons that float through New York City each Thanksgiving, joyously celebrates his life’s creative process. (2012 Sibert Medal Book).
Breaking Stalin's Nose
Author: Eugene Yelchin; Illustrator: Eugene Yelchin; Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
On the eve of his induction into the Young Pioneers, Sasha’s world is overturned when his father is arrested by Stalin’s guard. (A 2012 Newbery Honor Book)
Diego Rivera: His World and Ours
Author: Duncan Tonatiuh; Illustrator: Duncan Tonatiuh; Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers
The accomplishments of Mexican painter, activist, and muralist Diego Rivera are highlighted in stylized illustrations. (2012 Belpré Illustrator Medal Book)
Inside out and back again
Author: Thanhha Lai; Publisher: HarperCollins
Hà and her family flee war-torn Vietnam for the American South. In spare, vivid verse, she chronicles her struggle to find her place in a new world. (A 2012 Newbery Honor Book)
The Lily Pond
Author: Annika Thor; Translator: Linda Schenck; Publisher: Delacorte Press
This sequel to “A Faraway Island” continues the story of thirteen-year-old Stephie Steiner, a Jewish refugee whose parents have sent her from Nazi-occupied Vienna to Sweden. (2012 Batchelder Honor Book)
Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match /Marisol McDonald no combina
Author: Monica Brown; Illustrator: Sara Palacios; Publisher: Children's Book Press, an imprint of Lee and Low Books.
Bright, vivacious Marisol, a Peruvian-Scottish-American girl, loves peanut butter and jelly burritos and speaks both English and Spanish, but her teacher and classmates do not appreciate Marisol’s mashing of cultures. (A 2012 Belpré Illustrator Honor Book)
Maximilian and the mystery of the guardian angel: A bilingual lucha libre thriller
Author: Xavier Garza; Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press
Eleven-year-old Max discovers that his favorite Lucha Libre wrestler is coming to town and might have a strange connection with his own family. (A 2012 Belpré Author Honor Book)
Soldier Bear
Author: Bibi Dumon Tak; Illustrator: Philip Hopman; Translator: Laura Watkinson; Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
Based on a true story and set during World War II, the novel follows the journey of refugee Polish soldiers and the mischievous young bear they acquire in the Iranian desert. (2012 Batchelder Award Book)
Pick one of the 2012 Selections for Middle Readers
America is under attack : September 11, 2001 : the day the towers fell
Author: Don Brown; Illustrator: Don Brown; Publisher: Roaring BrookA straightforward account of the September 11th tragedy, Brown’s restrained watercolors and sensitive text focuses on small stories of those who were in the Towers and the people who responded to the disaster.
The Cheshire Cheese cat : a Dickens of a tale
Author:Carmen Agra Deedy, Randall Wright; Illustrator: Barry Moser; Publisher: Peachtree PublishersAlley-cat Skilley finds a perfect home, gets help from a friend to return an injured raven to the Tower of London and saves all the Cheshire Cheese Inn mice from the evil Pinch.
Dream something big : the story of the Watts Towers
Author: Dianna Hutts Aston; Illustrator: Publisher: Susan L.Roth; Publisher: Dial Books for Young ReadersThe human desire to make a mark is celebrated in this fictionalized account of Simon Rodia’s process in building the Watts Towers – a singular, eccentric, artistic creation now recognized as a National Landmark.
E-mergency
Author: Tom Lichtenheld; Illustrator: Ezra Fields-Meyer; Publisher: Chronicle Books.When the letter ‘E’ falls down the stairs and hurts her leg, the rest of the alphabet must do the best it can to limp along without its most-used letter. Puns aplenty pack every page.
Emma dilemma : big sister poems
Author: Kristine O'Connell George; Illustrator: Nancy Carpenter; Publisher: Clarion BooksSisterhood is complicated: partly embarrassing, partly affectionate, partly competitive, partly supportive, partly confining, partly empowering. The many facets of the relationship are deftly described by George’s poems and Carpenter’s pen and ink drawings.
The Great Migration : journey to the North
Author: Eloise Greenfield; Illustrator: Jan Spivey Gilchrist; Publisher: HarperCollins Children's BooksMuted mixed media illustrations set the tone for somber yet hopeful free verse honoring the author's family as they journeyed north from the Jim Crow South. A haunting view of a pivotal moment in U.S. history.
Junonia
Author: Kevin Henkes; Publisher: Greenwillow Books.Alice knows just how her vacation on Sanibel Island should be: the same as the previous nine, except that this year she hopes to find a rare junonia shell. Alice's tenth birthday, however, brings unexpected changes.
Lemonade, and other poems squeezed from a single word
Author: Bob Raczka; Illustrator: Nancy Doniger; Publisher: Roaring Brook Press.Think of a word, then compose a poem using only the letters in that word. Amusing challenges for poet and reader alike, these poem-puzzles are illustrated with similarly playful brush-paintings. Great fun for classroom or budding poets.
The mangrove tree: planting trees to feed families
Author:Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore; Illustrator: Susan L. Roth; Publisher: Lee & Low Books.Through a “This is the House That Jack Built” formula, the story of an ecological and environmental triumph is told so that even very young children can understand the interrelationships between plants, animals and people.
Migrant
Author: Maxine Trottier; Illustrated: Isabelle Arsenault; Publisher: Groundwood BooksThis unique story about a group of migrant workers – Mennonites – is told through the eyes of young Anna, who reflects upon their peripatetic life and the hardships it creates.
Night flight : Amelia Earhart crosses the Atlantic
Author: Robert Burleigh; Illustrator: Wendell Minor; Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young ReadersSit with Amelia Earhart in her red Vega as she flies across the Atlantic and startles a farmer in Northern Ireland by landing in his field.
No Ordinary Day
Author: Deborah Ellis; Publisher: GroundwoodValli, a resourceful homeless nine-year-old, learns she has leprosy. An encounter with a kind doctor gives her the chance to heal and find a home. Illuminates harsh realities in contemporary India.
Nursery rhyme comics: 50 timeless rhymes from 50 celebrated cartoonists
Illustrator: Patrick McDonnell et al. ; Publisher: First SecondA lively compilation of 50 nursery rhymes interpreted and illustrated in diverse and distinctive styles by a different cartoonist or graphic artists. The introduction by Leonard Marcus puts it all in focus.
The third gift
Author: Linda Sue Park; Illustrator: Bagram Ibatoulline; Publisher: Clarion BooksIbatoulline’s sumptuous, highly finished gouaches invite the reader into a distant time and landscape where a young Arab boy and his father harvest myrrh for three mysterious strangers.
Thunder birds: nature's flying predators
Author: Jim Arnosky; Illustrator: Jim Arnosky; Publisher: SterlingArnosky describes and illustrates the qualities of magnificent raptors. Distinctive acrylic and chalk paintings depict birds gazing at readers from their natural environments. Four large fold out pages shows some birds in actual size.
Treasury of Greek mythology: classic stories of gods, goddesses, heroes & monsters
Author: Donna Jo Napoli; Illustrator: Christina Balit; Publisher: National Geographic SocietyFrom the chaos that spawned Gaia to the horrors of the Trojan War, this is the most comprehensive and lavishly illustrated compendium of Greek mythology since the D’Aulaires’ offering. Timeline, cast of characters, map appended.
The trouble with May Amelia
Author: Jennifer L. Holm; Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young ReadersMay Amelia is always in trouble but never more than when she translates an offer from a con man for her father. A companion to My Only May Amelia, it stands sturdily on its own.
Underground
Author: Shane Evans; Illustrator: Shane Evans; Publisher: Roaring Brook PressSpare text describes a long dangerous night time journey on the Underground Railroad. The striking illustrations with their dark palette burst into light as the travelers reach freedom.
The unforgotten coat
Author: Frank Cottrell Boyce; Illustrator: Carl Hunter and Clare Heney; Publisher: Candlewick PressJulie recalls her sixth year classmates Chingis and Nergui, two Mongolian brothers, their strange polaroid photographs, sketchy descriptions of Mongolia, and their very real fear of demons in this offbeat, haunting story.
The watcher : Jane Goodall's life with the chimps
Author: Jeanette Winter; Illustrator: Jeanette Winter; Publisher: Schwartz & Wade BooksWinter presents inquisitive and independent Goodall from girlhood to the Gombe Stream and beyond in her search to understand chimpanzees. Stylized acrylics show scientist and animals in the abundant foliage of Africa.
Wonderstruck
Author: Brian Selznick; Illustrator: Brian Selznick; {Publisher: ScholasticTwo parallel stories set 50 years apart converge in this textual and visual story of adventurous Ben and Rose as it explores topics of deafness, silence, wolves, and museums.
Won-Ton : a cat tale told in haiku
Author:Lee Wardlaw; Illustrator: Eugene Yelchin; Publisher: Henry HoltFrom animal shelter cage to a loving home, Won Ton’s experience is told from his point of view in senryu, a form of Japanese poetry similar to Haiku.
Young Fredle
Author: Cynthia Voigt; Illustrator: Louise Yates; Publisher: Alfred A. KnopfExiled from his home in the pantry, Fredle, a mouse with a sweet tooth and unusual curiosity, discovers the wonders and dangers of the outside world. He learns to question the rules and returns home a changed mouse.
Zita the spacegirl
Author: Ben Hatke; Illustrator: Ben Hatke; Publisher:First SecondWhen a little red button crashes to earth any self-respecting graphic novel character would push it. When Joseph is whisked through an inter-dimensional portal to an alien planet, Zita follows to rescue him.
Balloons over Broadway: the true story of the puppeteer of Macy's Parade
Author: Melissa Sweet; Illustrator: Melissa Sweet; Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for ChildrenThis story of Tony Sarg, the artistic inventor who conceived the huge balloons that float through New York City each Thanksgiving, joyously celebrates his life’s creative process. (2012 Sibert Medal Book).
Breaking Stalin's Nose
Author: Eugene Yelchin; Illustrator: Eugene Yelchin; Publisher: Henry Holt and CompanyOn the eve of his induction into the Young Pioneers, Sasha’s world is overturned when his father is arrested by Stalin’s guard. (A 2012 Newbery Honor Book)
Diego Rivera: His World and Ours
Author: Duncan Tonatiuh; Illustrator: Duncan Tonatiuh; Publisher: Abrams Books for Young ReadersThe accomplishments of Mexican painter, activist, and muralist Diego Rivera are highlighted in stylized illustrations. (2012 Belpré Illustrator Medal Book)
Inside out and back again
Author: Thanhha Lai; Publisher: HarperCollinsHà and her family flee war-torn Vietnam for the American South. In spare, vivid verse, she chronicles her struggle to find her place in a new world. (A 2012 Newbery Honor Book)
The Lily Pond
Author: Annika Thor; Translator: Linda Schenck; Publisher: Delacorte PressThis sequel to “A Faraway Island” continues the story of thirteen-year-old Stephie Steiner, a Jewish refugee whose parents have sent her from Nazi-occupied Vienna to Sweden. (2012 Batchelder Honor Book)
Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match /Marisol McDonald no combina
Author: Monica Brown; Illustrator: Sara Palacios; Publisher: Children's Book Press, an imprint of Lee and Low Books.Bright, vivacious Marisol, a Peruvian-Scottish-American girl, loves peanut butter and jelly burritos and speaks both English and Spanish, but her teacher and classmates do not appreciate Marisol’s mashing of cultures. (A 2012 Belpré Illustrator Honor Book)
Maximilian and the mystery of the guardian angel: A bilingual lucha libre thriller
Author: Xavier Garza; Publisher: Cinco Puntos PressEleven-year-old Max discovers that his favorite Lucha Libre wrestler is coming to town and might have a strange connection with his own family. (A 2012 Belpré Author Honor Book)
Soldier Bear
Author: Bibi Dumon Tak; Illustrator: Philip Hopman; Translator: Laura Watkinson; Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young ReadersBased on a true story and set during World War II, the novel follows the journey of refugee Polish soldiers and the mischievous young bear they acquire in the Iranian desert. (2012 Batchelder Award Book)